Being a UFC matchmaker is one of the rarest and most prestigious roles in the company, and Dana White has just hired the winner of a UFC competition to become one alongside Sean Shelby and Mick Maynard.
Joe Reeves won a recent ‘UFC Matchmaker Sweepstakes’ competition that asked fans to build their dream fight card for the chance to meet Dana White in the UFC ‘war room’, attend a matchmaking meeting and get tickets to UFC 295 in New York City.
However, Reeves apparently impressed White and others on the UFC staff so much that he offered him a full-time job on the spot!
“You wanna know how f****** good Joe is? I just hired Joe. Joe works for us now. Yeah. This f****** kid is awesome,” White told reporters after last night’s Contender Show in Las Vegas which Reeves attended.
“I literally just back there, I did all the contracts and I came back in and I said, ‘I got one more. You want to work for the UFC?’ He freaked out. He is a f****** UFC lunatic. He went toe-to-toe with the boys today, he knew every — bring up a guy on the roster he don’t know. He knows everybody on the roster and he actually did make a fight today. So, apparently — Lenee came into my office today raving about the kid, ‘Oh, this kid’s awesome, we love him,’ and this and that. He met a bunch of fighters in the P.I. today and one of ‘em was Cody Garbrandt. They were talking and I guess Garbrandt said, ‘Listen, if you’re the matchmaker for a day, I want a fight in December.’ So he came in and started pitching us on fights for Cody Garbrandt in December and he made a fight.
White wouldn’t be drawn on who Reeves picked for Garbrandt to fight, but he is already looking forward to the UFC’s new matchmaking recruit making the move from Detroit to Las Vegas with his wife to start his dream job.
“When we’re ready [we’ll tell]. I don’t want to say it before the f****** kids even know that they’re fighting, you know what I mean? Because they don’t know yet but yeah, Cody, good work. You got it done. He’s fighting in December.
“And you know what Joe’s wife does for a living? They live in Detroit, Michigan. Guess what Joe’s wife does for a living. She’s a blackjack dealer. It’s like this was meant to be. Think she’s gonna find a job out here in Vegas? I think she will.”
